


more to lose

by sunbean72



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, I was struck, Lost - Freeform, everything, how they both
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:59:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15780126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunbean72/pseuds/sunbean72
Summary: someone has to go to May Parker, and Thor decides it will be him.





	more to lose

**Author's Note:**

> This is about to disappear from my drafts so I'm publishing it as-is. I hope someone finds something to enjoy in it, I had originally planned it to be more fleshed out but you know.

Steve had refused to go into the city. He'd said it was because there were other places with more pressing need, but Thor suspected that Steve Rogers simply could not bear to see how empty the large metropolis had become. Thor, of course, understood. Even very strong people find their breaking point; he'd found his long ago and he had never stopped breaking since. And New York was particularly depressing. Even of the half of the population that had been spared, many had moved away, searching for a way to provide for themselves now that there was no world economy, no stock markets, no... no nothing. It was said that many large cities had died out completely, their towering skyscrapers across the world mute and empty monuments to the loss they'd suffered. Thor didn't press him, but he suspected Steve felt their loss most acutely in the once thriving and beautiful city.

The power was back on; actually, thanks to Tony, and he wasn't even here. His protocols that FRIDAY enacted created a stop-gap measure with the arc reactors to automate what he could until someone with the skills needed could step in and fix the problems. Some municipalities were functioning, too-- the water was flowing in most areas. Anything that could be automated was mostly there but there were many, many more questions than answers. It had only been two weeks, and no one knew what anything meant anymore, what money was worth, how they were to move forward, but they were moving forward if only incrementally. Grave uncertainty and terrible grief made any small progress only a shadow of a victory, unsure and uncelebrated. But the stop lights were working, and that helped. He supposed it helped. Any scrap of normalcy. Every bit helped.

As things began to become the new normal, the remnant survivors of the once Avengers had mentioned a few times over the past days that they needed to find time to locate and talk to Mrs. Parker if she survived and tell her what had happened, the parts they knew, but there had been _so much_ to do, so many survivors that needed rescuing from the collapse of society. The first week had been the worst by far; there had been massive suicides from people in utter despair. The hospitals were full of the injured, the sick; the orphaned children. There was nowhere and there was no one, and there was no one to solve the world's problems. Except, again, Tony. FRIDAY had deployed the Iron Legion according to her protocols, and Bruce had been keeping them on task for the busiest hotspots, but it was an overwhelming job. It felt like a drop of rain in a firestorm.

People had pulled together remarkably, of course. There were bright spots. Like candles in the darkness, there were people trying to help and they were probably the best off. Increments. As those increments moved forward, Thor had not forgotten about Iron Man's protege's family.

He had approached Natasha that morning and said that he would go talk to the woman. Natasha's face was pinched with pain and grief and guilt-- "Maybe it should be me," she'd murmured, but though Widow's fortitude was impressive, he did not think her up to the task. His team, his family, decimated as it was, had not the strength left. He had asked to do it.

"Tell me about the boy," Thor had asked. Natasha had slowly walked to the computer system; he had noticed before everyone's seeming reluctance to use the technology. Perhaps it was because they did not want any more bad news, perhaps it was because they did not prefer the AI that was all that was left of Tony and who was as cool and detached as a stranger, perhaps it reminded them too much of their loss of Tony Stark. He did not know. He did not ask. It was sad and somehow disturbing that many encrypted and classified files that belonged to Tony were now accessible; he had envisioned and planned for a time that he would not be there.

"Report on Spider-man, please, FRIDAY."

FRIDAY didn't respond except to activate a large display the size of a large screen TV which lit up with hundreds of pictures, news articles, youtube videos, and notes from Tony. Thor watched and read for several minutes and tapped the news footage of him being dragged up into the Q-ship with the limp form of Dr. Strange. The news had not been able to identify the man, but of course FRIDAY had. There was a small section of information about the doctor-- a news article about a car accident, some published studies he'd done, several awards. Thor swallowed, remember Dr. Strange's interactions with him and Loki when he was looking for his father.

Thor leaned forward, reading some of Tony's personal notes on Peter Parker. There was a debriefing file on the events of the young man taking on a foe nicknamed "The Vulture," and Thor found his respect for Peter growing as he read through Tony's notes. His eyes were drawn back to the Q-ship encounter. "Is their audio or visual recording of this?" Thor and Natasha leaned closer as the HUD from the Iron Man armor appeared on the screen and to listen to the audio; no one had accessed the recordings in the aftermath of the snap and it was the first time anyone knew what happened in Tony Stark and Peter Parker's last moment's on earth.

 _Mr. Stark? I'm being beamed up._ Peter sound a bit unnerved but less afraid that Thor would have supposed for one so young. No doubt he had confidence in Iron Man's ability to help him. Bruce and Steve, who had been quietly discussing the looting in DC, stopped what they were doing and meandered over at the sound of the voices.

 _Hang on, kid! Wong, you're invited to my wedding._ Thor glanced at Natasha. 

"Was Tony to marry Pepper then?" Natasha glanced at him, her eyes hollow and glazed, and nodded once. Thor felt a stab through his chest. So much loss. They had seen Pepper exactly once, and she had made it clear while she would assist them in any way she could to rebuild the world, she wanted nothing to do with any of ex-Avengers at all and could scarcely bear talking to any of them.

 _Give me a little juice FRIDAY! Unlock 17-A._ They watched as Tony raced against time toward the teenager clinging to the outside of the alien ship. 

_Pete, you gotta let go, I'm gonna catch you._

_But you said save the wizard!_ With the high definition recording, they could see Peter Parker pull off his mask. _I can't breathe!_

_You're too high up! You're running out of air._

_Yeah, that makes sense._ The watched along with Tony as the young man lost his grip-- and Tony was still too far away. Out of the periphery, something rocketed past Iron Man and caught the falling Spider-man mid-air. Enveloping his body even as protected him, it flooded his body with oxygen and Peter landed safely a moment later.

_Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!_

_Happy trails, kid. FRIDAY, send him home._

_Yup._

_Oh, come on!_ Peter Paker was pulled out of frame by his parachute being deployed and for a moment Thor started forward. 

"Could he have come back to earth without us knowing?" Thor demanded of FRIDAY.

"Negative. Karen's tracking shows that he remained on the ship until it was out of range of satellite scans." 

"He didn't want to abandon Tony," Bruce observed. "Poor kid."

The audio began to get staticky and the imagery being relayed by the HUD started to cut in and out, but to their surprise, it continued.

_Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts._

_Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?_

_Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res._

_Why?_

_Just 'cause I'll... probably not make it back for a while._ Natasha put her hand to her mouth, glancing at Bruce, who had taken off his glasses and was rubbing his eyes.

_Tell me you're not on that ship._

_Yeah._

_God, no. Please tell me you're not on that ship!_

_Honey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say._

_Come back here, Tony. I swear to God…_

_Pep…_

_Come back here right now! Come back!_

_Boss, we're losing her._

_I'm going, too…_

The screen went black briefly before it reverted to the information on Spider-man. They all stood in silence, watching it, their hearts choked with grief and regret. Thor wiped away tears that always seemed so close to the surface these days.

Steve didn't bother to try and not cry, didn't bother wiping away the tears. He just looked tired; haggard. "There never would have been time for me to get here," he said, glancing at Bruce. "If Tony had called me." Natasha looked at him quickly, understanding at that moment that Steve had somewhat been blaming Tony for the loss because he had not called him sooner. The footage and timing made it much more clear that Tony had no time to call him and Steve wouldn't have been there to help fast enough if he had. The only way that Steve would have been there, in time to help, would be if he signed the Accords-- all that time ago. 

Would it have mattered? Would it only have delayed the inevitable? There was no way to know for certain. But Steve felt the weight of it. He hadn't meant to blame Tony at all; it was just a vestige of hope that things could have been different, now just another loss. Natasha had tried to tell him _Staying together is more important than how we stay together,_ but he hadn't heard her, hadn't heard Tony, hadn't heard anything but his own loud and insistent mistrust of the government and Ross. 

Bruce folded his arms around himself, vacillating between wanting to make Steve feel better and be honest with him. "It doesn't matter now, Steve," he finally said, gently. 

After a moment, Thor looked again at the screen and tapped on an image of a pretty woman-- May Parker. She had her arm around Peter, both of them wearing paper hats from a restaurant.

"That's his aunt that he lived with. His parents are dead." Natasha told him as the others wandered away. 

"Print it, please, FRIDAY," Thor asked, his heart aching as he studied her face. He wondered if she or any of them could ever find happiness again.

He thought perhaps not.

Not this time.

"Discoverable file available," FRIDAY informed him.

"What file?" Thor asked the taciturn AI.

"File marked recipient May Parker," she replied and a file folder icon appeared. Thor clicked it.

...

Thor consulted a scrap of paper in his hand once more, wanting to be certain. Though, of course, nothing was certain, nothing. 

The streets were empty, an odd and forlorn feeling. It was eerie; it was another reason so many moved away. Now the electronic ads flashed automatically to no one. The lights went green to yellow to red when no cars passed. No one spoke, no sound of footsteps beside his own, no speaking. It was a terrible echo of Asgard. It was a ghost town, haunted and forlorn, steel and concrete and empty, terribly empty.

But not entirely.

He took the stairs, not completely trusting the power would not fail. 

He stood in front of the door a long time before he lifted his hand to knock.

No one answered as minutes passed.

He knocked again.

He feared the worst.

But then the door opened a crack. A pale and gaunt face appeared, large brown eyes peering out at him. The two of them regarded each other a few silent moments, all of his carefully thought out introductions fleeing his mind, and after a moment the door closed and he heard the chain being moved, and the door opened again this time wide enough to show the small woman as she pushed it open a bit wider as a tacit invitation to enter. They had not spoken at all.

"My lady," Thor said. "I am Thor Odinson." She nodded and he hesitated, again looking at the scrap of paper. This woman only passingly resembled the picture. She was gaunt instead of thin, her hair was shorn very short instead of in a long cascade to her waist. She was not the vibrant, smiling, vivacious woman in the picture but. He thought it might be her. He wished she would speak.

"Are you May Parker?"

For a moment, a look of confusion passed over her face and he thought it must be the wrong person after all, but then she nodded slowly. Thor vaguely remembered reports of similar things happening-- people going into shock, not knowing who they were with everyone they knew _gone._ Cut adrift with no one who knew them or related to them, there were many people who lost everyone.

Bad luck, maybe. They'd had 50/50 chance of keeping some, losing some; some lost all.

May Parker had been watching him and her face changed from passively sad to anxious. "Do you have news?"

"No," he said quickly, apologetically. He had not meant, the cruelest of things, to raise her hopes. The news had reported that Spider-Man had perhaps been seen on the Q-Ship with Iron Man before it left earth, but the only confirmation she'd had was his lack of communication since then, and... of course, the damning fact that he hadn't come home and that Thanos had the Time Stone, there was really only one conclusion to draw.

"Won't you sit down," she whispered, taking her glasses off as tears began to fall. Instead of sitting, Thor took the small woman in his strong embrace. He wrapped her in his strength, his warmth, his utter and undeniable _thereness._ He had nothing else to offer, nothing else to be in the moment. She gave in to her tears without any fight at all, without any preamble or apology.

After a few moments they did sit down, but he didn't let her go. He held her tightly, not forgetting his own strength however it had failed him against Thanos, he held her gently. "When I found out Peter was Spider-man, I was so angry. I knew he, of all people, knew how precarious life was." The words broke against her sobs and they reached his ears like something shattered; he barely could make out what she was saying. "When Ben died we learned again how fragile life is. I hated him putting himself in some kind of danger. I saw he wanted to do good though. I could see that. God I hope he didn't die alone!' She moaned these last words as if they were her dying breath being torn from her chest.

"Tony was with him," Thor murmured. "I know that he was."

"How can you know? Did you hear something?"

"No. I only know Stark." The god of thunder felt a lump rise in his throat, painful, making his voice thick. "I know Stark would never leave him alone unless he died as well. If so then they died together, but he would never leave him."

"Did you know Peter?" She asked after a moment, her large brown eyes so filled with sorrow that Thor would have moved the sun, moon, and stars for her if he could. She shook her head. "I know you didn't know him, you were gone when Tony recruited him. Of course you didn't, it was a dumb question."

"Though I had not the honor of meeting Peter Parker, his deeds are known to me. With your permission, I would like to hear more about him from you. And..." Thor flinched, knowing that it would break her heart, "I have something to give you. It was marked as personal by Tony Stark to be given to you if anything should happen to Peter."

"What?" May was so surprised she stopped crying a moment. Part of her was outraged that Tony had ever considered such a possibility since he was supposed to be keeping Peter from any real danger; another part of her was touched that he'd been that considerate and thoughtful. Thor handed her the jump drive that FRIDAY had helped him create. She held in her hand a long time, clutching it so tightly he knew it must hurt. "Thank you."

"Mrs. Parker. I have come to bring you home."

"I am home."

"No, your new home, among us. Among friends. In honor of Peter, his sacrifice."

"Everything I have is here," she said, crying again, and he heard what she meant, _Everything I have left is here._

"We will bring it all. But we will be together. I know young Peter would not want you alone, unprotected. And though it seems beyond all hope, there may yet be someone in the galaxy who lives that knows what happened to Peter and Tony. I have not heard from my friends, the Star Lord and his team. It may be that they perished, but if they sent word we will hear it first at Avengers Compound. Come with me and let us care for you... let us care for each other, now."

May Parker appeared stunned, but nodded, her heart breaking again as she started to weep.

Thor had strength, that was a given. But a new strength he was learning, giving others a place to lean as they grieved, was new and difficult. Yet he would bear it-- it was all he could do now. May Parker had grieved, worried, cried alone for nearly two weeks, but Thor vowed as he took her again in his arms to let her cry, and shed tears himself, that she would never be alone again unless she wanted to be and to honor Tony and Peter, he would care for her as long as she lived.

**Author's Note:**

> There were other members of the ex-avengers who actually had met Peter Parker but i chose thor to go to her because 1 is the best besides tony and 2 this is just my opinion none of the others besides rhodey has ever struck me as very empathetic towards other's loss (if I'm wrong tell me how it's just my perspective I'm not trying to be mean at all).


End file.
